Swinging and Open Relationships | What Does That Even Mean?

Two closely-related but markedly different terms, swinging and open relationships are two ways of life that are largely unconventional, fascinating, and mostly confused with each other.

Make no mistake there is a difference, and we’re going to tell you all about it. But before we do allow us to examine each term individually, not only towards the pre-stated end, but for a cogent explanation for those who might not be too familiar with either of the terms.

Swinging and Open Relationships — Swinging

According to Wikipedia, swinging is a sexual activity in which both singles and partners in a committed relationship engage in such activities with others as a recreational or social activity.

In other words, swinging in a relationship occurs when partners in a relationship consent to engaging in sexual activities with others, mainly for recreational purposes.

Swinging — The Intricacies

The concept of swinging isn’t novel anymore. While it has been around for a really long time, it is not until recently that it became more widely spoken about.

As a result a good number of people are starting to get more and more interested. But before you decide to try it out there are some intricacies involved in swinging — and open relationships for that matter — that you should know; most especially for swinging.

Knowing Why is Important

People swing for a lot of reasons, but mostly it’s for the expression, the recreation; the fun and the thrill. Either way to be on the same page with your partner you must know why you want to swing in the first place.

Some people also swing because they’re just plain promiscuous, and that is not what swinging is about; in that form it’s nothing but a mere excuse to mess around.

Research

And that is where research comes in. After having known the reason, talking about it and agreeing on it, the next step is to do on your own some cogent research, and find out what the act really entails and how to go about it — just like you’re doing by reading this article.

So exactly how does one go about swinging? We’ll discuss that soon, but first a little note about open relationships.

Swinging and Open Relationships — Open Relationships

Open relationships are understood simply as they sound — a relationship where the partners are open to pretty much anything, sexually.

You’re allowed to have sex with other people, try things with them and pretty much explore. In a sense, you might think this is a form of swinging, but you’d be wrong. It is, in fact, the other way round.

Open Relationships — The Intricacies

While not always the case, most open relationships can sometimes be a product of partners not being so much in love, or not at all. And as such the relationship has not — and might not — reach the state of exclusivity yet.

Some cases, also, are a product of one of the partners not being sexually active enough to meet the other partner’s sexual needs, and as a result, the relationship becomes open enough to allow them explore and get this satisfaction from other places.

In all cases, however, there is always a dose of sexual equanimity for either one or both of the partners. Sexual equanimity in this case referring to a situation where one doesn’t care enough about sex to consider it a serious undertaking worth losing one’s mind over.

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Swinging and Open Relationships | Some Differences

Collectivity vs Exclusivity

From what has written about swinging and open relationships thus far it is obvious that even though they do look similar and intertwined there are indeed differences between them, the first and most obvious one being the extent of openness.

Yes, a swinging affair is an open one, but it is not wanton by any means. There are certain rules, and one of them is that the act must be embarked upon by the couple together.

And even in situations whereby only one partner engages in the act — and yes they do occur — naturally both partners have to be present for it to be swinging.

Level of Preparedness

Apart from having both partners present, the level of preparedness involved is also a major difference between swinging and open relationships.

Whereas in open relationships partners are free to roam and express their sexual urges whenever and wherever, a swinging affair is usually more planned and premeditated.

Cheating

Technically partners in an open relationship can never cheat on their partners, while partners in a swinging relationship can.

Swinging and Open Relationships | Some Similarities

There are, obviously, some similarities too and few examples are:

Swinging and open relationships are both open to an extent, seeing as in both scenarios partners can and do engage in sexual activities with other people.

They are both socially controversial.

They both require a huge amount of risk, should they hope to work out for a serious relationship.

They both require huge amount of trust from partners.

They both can be thrilling and liberating, if truly desired.

Swinging and Open Relationships — In Short

As a summary: Swinging is a form of sexual relationship where partners/couples engage in sexual encounters with other partners/couples.

Open relationships, however, are sexual relationships where the partners involved are free to have sex with just anybody.

Swinging might very well be regarded as a form of open relationship, but it is not the only form, seeing as it has its own rules that aren’t present in most other forms of open relationships.

So in short all swinging activity is a type of open relationships but not all open relationships can be categorized as a swing.

Swinging — How To

Are you considering swinging? Here are few tips on just how to go about it — and they’re pretty important if you want to do it well.

Determine How You Want It

There are different kinds of swinging. The orgies, the exclusives, the unicorn types. Knowing which kind exactly you’re familiar with will go a long way in making sure you have a good experience swinging.

The orgies are parties where couples have sex freely with each other. Then there are exclusives where it’s just two on two. There are also differences in this, as there are arrangements where only one partner have sex while the other watches. Some couples switch spouses and some only permits the ladies to interact.

The unicorn-type is where a single comes in the mix. It’s all up to you. Take your time and find out what it is you want and how you want it.

Set Rules to Follow

As mentioned earlier, as opposed to open relationships, when it comes to swinging there are rules to follow; rules that must be laid out and set by both partners prior to the act.

Are you allowed to swing with other couples in the absence of one of you? Is it just a woman-on-woman thing, no wife swap? etc.

The Where

Knowing where to swing is also important. There are most likely a variety of swinger’s club near you you don’t know about yet. There are also places online where you can meet people first, dating sites and swingers’ site, where you get to know the people involved before going into anything.

Our recommended swingers’ website is the Kasidie Social Community — with whom we’re affiliates. Be sure to check them out.

Be Security Conscious

Finally as with all thing relationships, one can’t be too careful. Be sure to get to know the people involved as much as possible before going into anything. And whatever you do, do it with your partner! Stay safe.

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